'The act of faith…set them above the crowd.’

(Heb 11:2) For by it the people of old received their commendation. ESV

     The Bible says: ‘The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd’ (vv. 1-2 MSG). The heroes of faith listed in Hebrews chapter eleven were far from perfect. Noah believed God, built the ark, and saved his family. But when he came out of the ark he got drunk. Abraham was known as a ‘friend of God’, yet he lied to save his own neck and ended up compromising his wife’s safety. When God told Sarah she’d give birth to a child at ninety years old, she laughed – and you’d probably have done the same. And how about Joseph? He was a slave with a prison record who ended up second in command when it came to ruling Egypt. Then there’s Rahab the harlot; we wouldn’t let her sing in the church choir, yet God listed her as a woman of great faith. And how about Jacob, who duped his brother and deceived his father-in-law in business in order to enrich himself? Would you do business with him? Then there was King David, whose womanising led to murder and national scandal. Even Gideon and Samuel, two spiritual giants, raised children who went astray spiritually. Every one of these people was as human as you are. They faltered, fumbled the ball, and went through times of failure. Their only claim to fame is they believed God and He honoured their faith – and He will do the same for you each time you put your trust in Him.

Leviticus 19-20
Matthew 27:51-66

UCB The Word For Today

     The Panama Canal Zone was acquired for ten million dollars by the United States on this day, February 23, 1904. In his address to Congress, President William Taft referred to it, saying: “Our defense of the Panama Canal, together with our enormous world trade and our missionary outposts on the frontiers of civilization, require us to recognize our position as one of the foremost in the family of nations.” President Taft continued, we must “clothe ourselves with sufficient naval power… to give weight to our influence in those directions of progress that a powerful Christian nation should advocate.”

American Minute

     A fable is told of two grasshoppers that were thrown into a pail of milk. The first grasshopper began immediately to sulk and give up, and he drowned in the milk.
     But the second grasshopper began to kick like crazy and work hard at getting out of the pail. In the process, he churned the milk into butter—and then walked out of the pail on top of that block of butter.
     Put two people in the same jail cell and one will see only the bars on the window while the other will see the stars beyond the bars. Which would you see?
     John Bunyan spent twelve years in a jail in Bedford, England. He was in jail because he refused to preach according to the rules of the day. He wasn’t a Church of England clergyman, but he loved to preach.
     So the authorities told him, “Bunyan, cut it out or we’ll put you in jail.”
     Bunyan answered, “I can’t ‘cut it out.’ I have to preach.” And he preached everywhere he went. So they arrested and jailed John Bunyan, and he languished in his cell for twelve years.
     Now, those were rotten circumstances. But within a short time, we are told, there was music coming from Bunyan’s cell. He had taken one of the legs of his three-legged stool and carved it into a flute.
     John Bunyan did something else in his cell. He wrote Pilgrim's Progress (Bunyan): Updated, Modern English. More than 100 Illustrations., a book that has become the classic after the Bible in the history of Christianity. Millions have been impacted by a work written in the worst of circumstances by a forgotten prisoner in seventeenth-century England.

The Hand of God: Finding His Care in All Circumstances

     The final grounds of holy Fellowship are in God. Lives immersed and drowned in God are drowned in love, and know one another in Him, and know one another in love. God is the medium, the matrix, the focus, the solvent. As Meister Eckhart suggests, he who is wholly surrounded by God, enveloped by God, clothed with God, glowing in selfless love toward Him-such a man no one can touch except he touch God also. Such lives have a common meeting point; they live in a common joyous enslavement. They go back into a single Center where they are at home with Him and with one another. It is as if every soul had a final base, and that final base of every soul is one single Holy Ground, shared in by all. Persons in the Fellowship are related to one another through Him, as all mountains go down into the same earth. They get at one another through Him. He is actively moving in all, coordinating those who are pliant to His will and suffusing them all with His glory and His joy.

     The relation of each to all, through God, is real, objective, and existential. It is an eternal relationship which is shared in by every stick and stone and bird and beast and saint and sinner of the universe. On all the wooing love of God falls urgently, persuadingly. But he who, having will, yields to the loving urgency of that Life which knocks at his heart, is entered and possessed and transformed and transfigured. The scales fall from his eyes when he is given to eat of the tree of knowledge, the fruit of which is indeed for the healing of the nations, and he knows himself and his fellows as comrades in Eden, where God walks with them in the cool of the day. As there is a mysterious many-ing of God, as He pours Himself forth into the universe, so there is a one-ing of those souls who find their way back to Him who is their home. And these are in the Holy Fellowship, the Blessed Community, of whom God is the head.

     This community of life and love is far deeper than current views based upon modern logic would suppose. Logic finds, beneath every system of thought, some basic assumptions or postulates from which all other items of belief are derived. It is said that those who share in a system of thought are those who hold basic assumptions in common. But these assumptions are of the intellect, subsequent products, efforts to capture and clarify and make-intelligible to ourselves and to others some fragment of that immediacy of experience which is the soul of life itself. Such as assumptions we must make, but they are experimental, variant, conditioned by our culture period. But Holy Fellowship reaches behind these intellectual frames to the immediacy of experience in God, and seeks contact in this fountain head of real, dynamic connectedness. Theological quarrels arise out of differences in assumptions. But Holy Fellowship, freely tolerant of these important yet more superficial clarifications, lives in the Center and rejoices in the unity of His love.

     And this Fellowship is deeper than democracy, conceived as an ideal of group living. It is a theocracy wherein God rules and guides and directs His listening children. The center of authority is not in man, not in the group, but in the creative God Himself. Nor do all members share equally in spiritual discernment, but upon some falls more clearly the revealing light of His guiding will. "Weighty Friends," with delicate attunement both to heaven and to earth, bulk large in practical decisions. It would be a mistake indeed to suppose that Holy Fellowship is chained fast to one political system, or bound up inextricably with the fortunes of any one temporal structure of society. For the swaying fortunes of democracy and of fascism and of communism are of time, but the Fellowship in God is of all times and is eternal. It is certainly true that some temporal systems are more favorable than are others to the flowering of the Fellowship. But within alI groups and nations and creeds it springs up, smiling at differences, for, existing in time, it is rooted in the Eternal One.

A Testament of Devotion

Take care of your life
and the Lord will take care of your death.
--- George Whitefield

     Chapter IV.

     Ninth of fifth month. -- A Friend at whose house we breakfasted setting us a little on our way, I had conversation with him, in the fear of the Lord, concerning his slaves, in which my heart was tender; I used much plainness of speech with him, and he appeared to take it kindly. We pursued our journey without appointing meetings, being pressed in my mind to be at the Yearly Meeting in Virginia. In my travelling on the road, I often felt a cry rise from the centre of my mind, thus: "O Lord, I am a stranger on the earth, hide not thy face from me." On the 11th, we crossed the rivers Patowmack and Rapahannock, and lodged at Port Royal. On the way we had the company of a colonel of the militia, who appeared to be a thoughtful man. I took occasion to remark on the difference in general betwixt a people used to labor moderately for their living, training up their children in frugality and business, and those who live on the labor of slaves; the former, in my view, being the most happy life. He concurred in the remark, and mentioned the trouble arising from the untoward, slothful disposition of the negroes, adding that one of our laborers would do as much in a day as two of their slaves. I replied, that free men, whose minds were properly on their business, found a satisfaction in improving, cultivating, and providing for their families; but negroes, laboring to support others who claim them as their property, and expecting nothing but slavery during life, had not the like inducement to be industrious.

     After some further conversation I said, that men having power too often misapplied it; that though we made slaves of the negroes, and the Turks made slaves of the Christians, I believed that liberty was the natural right of all men equally. This he did not deny, but said the lives of the negroes were so wretched in their own country that many of them lived better here than there. I replied, "There is great odds in regard to us on what principle we act"; and so the conversation on that subject ended. I may here add that another person, some time afterwards, mentioned the wretchedness of the negroes, occasioned by their intestine wars, as an argument in favor of our fetching them away for slaves. To which I replied, if compassion for the Africans, on account of their domestic troubles, was the real motive of our purchasing them, that spirit of tenderness being attended to, would incite us to use them kindly that, as strangers brought out of affliction, their lives might be happy among us. And as they are human creatures, whose souls are as precious as ours, and who may receive the same help and comfort from the Holy Scriptures as we do, we could not omit suitable endeavors to instruct them therein; but that while we manifest by our conduct that our views in purchasing them are to advance ourselves, and while our buying captives taken in war animates those parties to push on the war, and increase desolation amongst them, to say they live unhappily in Africa is far from being an argument in our favor. I further said, the present circumstances of these provinces to me appear difficult; the slaves look like a burdensome stone to such as burden themselves with them; and that if the white people retain a resolution to prefer their outward prospects of gain to all other considerations, and do not act conscientiously toward them as fellow-creatures, I believe that burden will grow heavier and heavier, until times change in a way disagreeable to us. The person appeared very serious, and owned that in considering their condition and the manner of their treatment in these provinces he had sometimes thought it might be just in the Almighty so to order it.

     Having travelled through Maryland, we came amongst Friends at Cedar Creek in Virginia, on the 12th; and the next day rode, in company with several of them, a day's journey to Camp Creek. As I was riding along in the morning, my mind was deeply affected in a sense I had of the need of Divine aid to support me in the various difficulties which attended me, and in uncommon distress of mind I cried in secret to the Most High, "O Lord be merciful, I beseech thee, to thy poor afflicted creature!" After some time, I felt inward relief, and, soon after, a Friend in company began to talk in support of the slave-trade, and said the negroes were understood to be the offspring of Cain, their blackness being the mark which God set upon him after he murdered Abel his brother; that it was the design of Providence they should be slaves, as a condition proper to the race of so wicked a man as Cain was. Then another spake in support of what had been said. To all which I replied in substance as follows: that Noah and his family were all who survived the flood, according to Scripture; and as Noah was of Seth's race, the family of Cain was wholly destroyed. One of them said that after the flood Ham went to the land of Nod and took a wife; that Nod was a land far distant, inhabited by Cain's race, and that the flood did not reach it; and as Ham was sentenced to be a servant of servants to his brethren, these two families, being thus joined, were undoubtedly fit only for slaves. I replied, the flood was a judgment upon the world for their abominations, and it was granted that Cain's stock was the most wicked, and therefore unreasonable to suppose that they were spared. As to Ham's going to the land of Nod for a wife, no time being fixed, Nod might be inhabited by some of Noah's family before Ham married a second time; moreover the text saith "That all flesh died that moved upon the earth." (Gen. vii. 21.) I further reminded them how the prophets repeatedly declare "that the son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, but every one be answerable for his own sins." I was troubled to perceive the darkness of their imaginations, and in some pressure of spirit said, "The love of ease and gain are the motives in general of keeping slaves, and men are wont to take hold of weak arguments to support a cause which is unreasonable. I have no interest on either side, save only the interest which I desire to have in the truth I believe liberty is their right, and as I see they are not only deprived of it, but treated in other respects with inhumanity in many places, I believe He who is a refuge for the oppressed will, in his own time, plead their cause, and happy will it be for such as walk in uprightness before him." And thus our conversation ended.

John Woolman's Journal

                The determination to serve

     The son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. --- Matthew 20:28.

     Paul’s idea of service is the same as our Lord’s: “I am among you as He that serveth”; “ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” We have the idea that a man called to the Ministry is called to be a different kind of being from other men. According to Jesus Christ, he is called to be the ‘door-mat’ of other men; their spiritual leader, but never their superior. “I know how to be abased,” says Paul. This is Paul’s idea of service—‘I will spend myself to the last ebb for you; you may give me praise or give me blame, it will make no difference. So long as there is a human being who does not know Jesus Christ, I am his debtor to serve him until he does.’ The mainspring of Paul’s service is not love for men, but love for Jesus Christ. If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men.

     Paul’s realization of how Jesus Christ had dealt with him is the secret of his determination to serve others. “I was before a perjurer, a blasphemer, an injurious person”—no matter how men may treat me, they will never treat me with the spite and hatred with which I treated Jesus Christ. When we realize that Jesus Christ has served us to the end of our meanness, our selfishness, and sin, nothing that we meet with from others can exhaust our determination to serve men for His sake.

My Utmost for His Highest

                Pisces

Who said to the trout,
  You shall die on Good Friday
  To be food for a man
  And his pretty lady?
  It was I, said God,
  Who formed the roses
  In the delicate flesh
  And the tooth that bruises.

Song at the year's turning: Poems 1942-1954

     Job continues to be confident that he is experiencing an incredible wrong at the hands of God. He expresses again his desire to find God so as to present his case before him. Then Job lapses into discouragement as he contemplates his hopeless condition.

          A. Job’s Desire  (23:1–7).

     Job knew that his complaint against God was a rebellious act, and would be so viewed by his friends. Though he tried to restrain his groaning, he could not. The text is properly translated: “My hand is heavy upon my groaning” (23:2).

     Job ardently desires that he could come to God’s judgment seat to plead his cause before him.There he eloquently would argue his case with irrefutable arguments. In that context he could demand plain answers. Faced with the facts of Job’s case, God would be forced to admit the injustice which had been done to his servant. He was convinced that God would not take advantage of his great power. On this point Job has changed his opinion since his speech of 9:14–16. At that divine tribunal, Job was confident that he would be delivered forever from injustice at the hands of the heavenly judge (23:3–7).

          B. Job’s Defense  (23:8–12).

     Job suddenly returns to the reality of his isolation. God is everywhere, yet he can find him nowhere. The words “forward,” “backward,” “on the left hand,” and “on the right hand” probably denote the four points of the compass. Job concluded that God must be avoiding him because he knew he was innocent. Should he encounter Job he would have to admit that a grave injustice had been done (23:8–10).

     How could Job declare that if tried by God he would come forth as shining gold? Eliphaz had insinuated that Job was following the ancient path of wicked men (cf. 22:15). Not so. He had followed in the steps of the Lord and had never deviated therefrom. According to Eliphaz, Job needed to hear instruction from the mouth of God (cf. 22:22). In fact Job had never departed from the commandments of God. They were more precious to him than his daily bread (23:11–12).

          C. Job’s Discouragement (23:13–17).

     Though he knows that Job is innocent, God is resolute in his determination to destroy the patriarch. Since God is omnipotent, he can do as he pleases. Eliphaz had argued that if Job repented he could have all his plans confirmed (cf. 22:28). Not so! God was carrying out in Job’s life what he had decreed. All of this was a profound enigma to Job; but it was far from being a solitary one: “many such things are with him,” i.e., this is but one out of many similar mysteries that happen under God’s government of the world (23:13–14).

     God’s mysterious and irresistible ways trigger in Job a sense of dismay, terror and faintheartedness. By acting in what Job perceived to be an unjust way, the Lord had made the heart of the patriarch faint. The emphasis here is on what God had done. What dismays Job and renders him speechless is not the dark calamity which had overtaken him, and not the fact that his face had been marred and distorted by disease. What bothered him most was this: It was God who had inflicted the calamity upon him, and that for no just cause! (23:15–17).

The Wisdom Literature and Psalms (Old Testament Survey Series)

     I like to read the last words of famous men, even when I suspect someone else may have put those words in the celebrity’s mouth. Examples of questionable but famous last words, include those of the Emperor Julian, vigorous opponent of Christianity in the a.d. 360s, who supposedly said, “Thou has conquered, O pale Galilean.” And there was the millionaire whose last word to his gathered sons was reported to be “Remember—buy low and sell high.”

     But last words do give us insight into the values, concerns, and focus of a life. If I could record not just a saying, but a solid core of guidance for future generations, what would I say?

     Pretentious. It would be pretentious for you or me to presume to look ahead and give words of wisdom to guide future generations of our families. We are so limited in our understanding that we cannot see what next year holds, much less the coming decades. But as we come to Paul’s final letters in the New Testament, and to other late writings, we realize that we are reading “last words” which do apply to us today. These letters contain guidelines for living as God’s family in a world that is all too often an enemy of Christian values.

     These letters of Paul are more than words of wisdom from a gifted leader; they are words written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

     The first 30 years of the New Testament era had passed now. Jesus had entered history. The church had grown and developed after His death and resurrection. The power of the Gospel had brought hope and new life to millions of first-century pagans. The church had met opposition and attack, and had affirmed Jesus Christ as the center of its life. The church had come to understand itself as Jesus’ body, and God’s family and holy temple. The men and women who were the driving force in these early years—Paul, Peter, Barnabas, John, Apollos, Priscilla, and the others—were now old.

     There had been other changes. Christianity was no longer a novelty. The church knew second-and-third-generation believers. Once each Christian was a convert from paganism or Judaism, but now young men and women had grown up knowing the truths of the faith from childhood. Soon the Roman government would take an official position against Christianity. Within the faith, false teachers intruded, infiltrating twisted doctrine and warped lifestyles.

     A clear form of organization with definite offices and roles had developed within the church. How that organization was to function, without taking on the unhealthy characteristics of bureaucracy, was another challenge the church had to face.

     During the decades of the 60s through the 90s, Paul and the others looked ahead to foresee these emerging problems and needs. They knew that they must commit their ministry to others who would faithfully carry on the work of God. Thus they were led to leave us, in books like 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, 2 Peter, Jude, and the three letters of John, their last words. These letters speak to us today with a living authority and a wisdom that is part of our heritage from the Apostolic Age.

     Paul, Timothy, and Titus

     Paul. The Book of Acts closes with Paul imprisoned in Rome. Most commentators feel that he arrived there (Acts 28) about a.d. 59. Paul was kept under very lenient restraint. He had his own rented home, and welcomed many visitors. It was during this time that he wrote the Prison Epistles—Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. The apostle eventually gained his opportunity to appeal to the emperor, and won his release.

     Paul then very probably made his intended visit to Spain. An early church father, Clement of Rome, reports that Paul went “to the extreme limit of the west” before he suffered martyrdom. We can gather that he also had time to visit Ephesus in Macedonia (1 Tim. 1:3) as well as Crete (Titus 1:5). Paul planned to spend the winter in Nicopolis on the west coast of Epirus (3:12). Certainly the apostle was again free, totally immersed in his ministries as a missionary and church supervisor.

     But when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, he was imprisoned a second time, and this time under no gentle restraint: he was in chains (2 Tim. 1:16). He lacked warm clothing and books (4:13). The prospect was so grim that Paul wrote, “I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure” (v. 6).

     What had happened?

     Paul’s release from his first imprisonment probably took place around a.d. 60 or 61. His journey to Spain may have taken two years, say till 63. On his return Paul revisited many churches and wrote supportive letters to young Timothy and Titus (early 64). Then came a series of events that unleashed opposition to Christianity throughout the empire!

     Nero Claudius Caesar was Emperor of Rome from a.d. 54 to 67. Though a vicious and unbalanced man, his first five years were marked by sound administration, because he was content to let two supporters, Seneca and Burrus, run the empire. By 62, however, the young emperor grasped the full power of his position, having put to death those who had previously restrained him (including his mother). The situation rapidly deteriorated. In July of 64 a fire broke out in a slum and destroyed half of Rome, and the rumor circulated that Nero had put his capital to the torch in order to have more space for one of his grandiose building schemes.

     The increasingly unpopular emperor looked for a scapegoat upon whom he could turn the wrath of the people. Christians, already hated by the Roman mob, were chosen. During the next five years suppression of Christianity became the official policy of the Roman state, and persecution was intensified.

     Paul was rearrested, tumbled into a maximum security prison in Rome, and, within months after writing his second letter to Timothy, was executed. Deserted and alone during his last days (see v. 16), the aged apostle’s final thoughts were for the harassed church, and the youthful leaders who must now accept the burden of guiding its course.

     Timothy. Our impressions of Timothy come from Acts and from the letters he received from Paul. Timothy was a youth of good reputation, probably a resident of Lystra (Acts 16:2). His father was a Greek and his mother a devout Jewess who, with his grandmother Lois, instructed Timothy in the Old Testament Scriptures (Acts 16:1; 2 Tim. 1:5, 14). Timothy was probably a teen when he first joined Paul; fifteen years later Paul could write, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young” (1 Tim. 4:12).

     It’s uncertain how heavily Timothy was involved in missionary work during the intervening years; however, his name keeps appearing in association with Paul and Silas. Certainly Paul had known this young man intimately. And Paul now committed to Timothy much of his own ministry, and gave him his last words of advice. Certainly, Paul was aware not only of the difficulties facing the church but of Timothy’s own weaknesses. Bastien Van Elderen, New Testament scholar and archeologist, sums up the impression of Timothy conveyed in Paul’s writings in the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia:

     He was a fairly young man who was somewhat retiring, perhaps even a bit shy. He appears to be sincere and devoted, but at times perhaps frightened by his opponents and their teachings. This perhaps is also reflected in his apparent inability to cope with the problems in the Corinthian church.

     How encouraging it is to see the mission of the church being committed to ordinary people. Retiring. Perhaps a bit shy. Sincere, but uncomfortable with opposition, and all too often unable to cope. Just ordinary people, like you and me. Yet Christ’s church has endured and, from generation to generation, communicated the life that is our Saviour’s enduring gift to those who choose to make Him their own. How important then Paul’s last words to Timothy would be. They comfort us ordinary people, and give us guidelines for maintaining the church of Jesus Christ as His living, growing family.

     Titus. We know even less of Titus than of Timothy, yet the infrequent reference in the epistles to this young leader is consistently favorable. He shows genuine devotion and concern (2 Cor. 8:16–17); he is committed to those he serves (12:18). And Titus was apparently effective even in areas in which Timothy proved indecisive. Van Elderen reflects on the impact of Titus’ visit to Corinth as Paul’s emissary during a time of antagonism against the apostle.

     When Paul arrived in Troas, he did not find Titus (2 Cor. 2:13). Although there were promising opportunities for mission work in Troas, Paul’s concern about Corinth and Titus led him to proceed to Macedonia. … In Macedonia Titus brings to Paul a comforting report about the Corinthians, which gives him much joy and peace of mind (2 Cor. 7:6–14). Titus seems to have established a good rapport with the Corinthians and Paul exuberantly expresses his gratitude for the happy turn of events.

     Aside from this portrait of an effective and promising young leader, we know only that Titus was a Gentile who remained uncircumcised. He, like Timothy, accompanied Paul and later Barnabas on missionary journeys. Now, like Timothy, Titus must provide leadership in place of the apostle, and like Timothy, would profit from Paul’s final advice.

The Teacher's Commentary

     Just as the Talmud can jump from one topic to another, so too it jumps from one time and place to another. Imagine the following conversation being recorded in a history book:

     Thomas Jefferson told Abraham Lincoln: “I do not think that the framers of the Constitution had it in mind to prohibit slavery.” To which Lincoln answered: “I cannot conceive that they did not!” John Kennedy interrupted: “Mr. Jefferson, you are correct in theory. And Mr. Lincoln, you are correct in practice!”

     We understand immediately that such a conversation never took place. Yet in the Talmud, such exchanges are found on every page. The editors of the Talmud “cut and pasted” together snippets of teachings from a five-hundred-year period. Sometimes they were conversations that actually took place; other times they created the appearance of a conversation by putting together the sayings of two teachers (from two eras) on a single topic. Very often the Gemara goes a step further: It puts an argument into the mouth of a particular Rabbi, implying: “Here’s what so-and-so might have said about this had he been there.…”

     From this approach, we learn that the Talmud is a vibrant, dynamic, organic work. It is not restricted by time or space. It brings us back into the past and enables us to question and address people long since gone about how they dealt with the critical issues in their lives. It also enables us to bring those from the past into the present, so that we can see how they would apply the lessons of the past to the problems of today.

Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday Living

     An orientation toward individualism and tasks puts the responsibility for outcomes on an individual's shoulders. Jesus clearly put responsibility on the group. The Holy Spirit was poured out on everyone gathered, male and female, old and young, slaves and free. Therefore, the group bears the responsibility for bringing requests to God and partnership together and with the Holy Spirit, who takes the request to God knowing God's will. There are 38 references to prayer in Acts and 60% of them occur in community. The pervasiveness of prayer in the early church clearly marked it as a praying church (Acts 1:14; 2:42).

     One of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit is to intercede on our behalf. The Holy Spirit is directly related to our prayer lives. We are called to always pray, but it is the Holy Spirit that packages the prayer according to the will of God. The obedience and prayer is to pray, not to pray a certain way or to get a certain outcome. We often assume that prayer isn't worth it when we pray and nothing seems to happen. However, through the Holy Spirit we know that it is not our business to make anything happen. That is the business of the Holy Spirit through God. Our business is to pray, especially together.

     If the world operates with probable patterns, then we can accept those patterns as natural (the sun comes up; clouds cause rain; germs cause illness; storms happen). God sometimes overrides them, so we pray.
     Since we have free will, then we bear the consequences of free will when in sin or ignorance; we do things that bring harm to ourselves or others. God sometimes intervenes on our behalf, so we pray.
     Since sin and evil are let loose for a time and the end times have not arrived, then evil and sinful people will hurt and destroy the innocent. We still pray.

     Though Jesus Christ overcame evil on the cross, suffering is still the fabric of everyone's life. God is uniquely manifested in suffering. We pray for the suffering.

     Since God created us in a good world, sometimes the evil prosper and the good suffer (the rain falls on the just and unjust). God has promised a day when there will be no more tears.

     When we allow the Holy Spirit to take our prayers to the father for the father's will, in faith we trust:

     God's timing as inscrutable and loving for eternity
     God's righteousness and justice
     God's mystery and universal sovereignty as preeminent
     God's worthiness of our praise and trust

     The Scriptures tell us to pray for others. So we pray. We pray in faith. We are called to pray, not to take responsibility for answers. So pray fervently, with hope, with specific desires and with confidence in a God who loves us and died for us and a Holy Spirit who intercedes for us. As priests for a world desperately needing intercessors, it is the role of the individual and church to pray. We are not asked to take responsibility for the outcome of prayer. We pray urgently and freely for the needs of our friends, family and this world. Intercessory prayer is a prayer of participation in God's will.

A Guidebook to Prayer: 24 Ways to Walk with God

     Book One / Thoughts Helpful In The Life Of The Soul

     The Twenty-Third / Thoughts On Death

     VERY soon your life here will end; consider, then, what may be in store for you elsewhere. Today we live; tomorrow we die and are quickly forgotten. Oh, the dullness and hardness of a heart which looks only to the present instead of preparing for that which is to come!

     Therefore, in every deed and every thought, act as though you were to die this very day. If you had a good conscience you would not fear death very much. It is better to avoid sin than to fear death. If you are not prepared today, how will you be prepared tomorrow? Tomorrow is an uncertain day; how do you know you will have a tomorrow?

     What good is it to live a long life when we amend that life so little? Indeed, a long life does not always benefit us, but on the contrary, frequently adds to our guilt. Would that in this world we had lived well throughout one single day. Many count up the years they have spent in religion but find their lives made little holier. If it is so terrifying to die, it is nevertheless possible that to live longer is more dangerous. Blessed is he who keeps the moment of death ever before his eyes and prepares for it every day.

     If you have ever seen a man die, remember that you, too, must go the same way. In the morning consider that you may not live till evening, and when evening comes do not dare to promise yourself the dawn. Be always ready, therefore, and so live that death will never take you unprepared. Many die suddenly and unexpectedly, for in the unexpected hour the Son of God will come. When that last moment arrives you will begin to have a quite different opinion of the life that is now entirely past and you will regret very much that you were so careless and remiss.

     How happy and prudent is he who tries now in life to be what he wants to be found in death. Perfect contempt of the world, a lively desire to advance in virtue, a love for discipline, the works of penance, readiness to obey, self-denial, and the endurance of every hardship for the love of Christ, these will give a man great expectations of a happy death.

     You can do many good works when in good health; what can you do when you are ill? Few are made better by sickness. Likewise they who undertake many pilgrimages seldom become holy.

     Do not put your trust in friends and relatives, and do not put off the care of your soul till later, for men will forget you more quickly than you think. It is better to provide now, in time, and send some good account ahead of you than to rely on the help of others. If you do not care for your own welfare now, who will care when you are gone?

     The present is very precious; these are the days of salvation; now is the acceptable time. How sad that you do not spend the time in which you might purchase everlasting life in a better way. The time will come when you will want just one day, just one hour in which to make amends, and do you know whether you will obtain it?

     See, then, dearly beloved, the great danger from which you can free yourself and the great fear from which you can be saved, if only you will always be wary and mindful of death. Try to live now in such a manner that at the moment of death you may be glad rather than fearful. Learn to die to the world now, that then you may begin to live with Christ. Learn to spurn all things now, that then you may freely go to Him. Chastise your body in penance now, that then you may have the confidence born of certainty.

     Ah, foolish man, why do you plan to live long when you are not sure of living even a day? How many have been deceived and suddenly snatched away! How often have you heard of persons being killed by drownings, by fatal falls from high places, of persons dying at meals, at play, in fires, by the sword, in pestilence, or at the hands of robbers! Death is the end of everyone and the life of man quickly passes away like a shadow.

     Who will remember you when you are dead? Who will pray for you? Do now, beloved, what you can, because you do not know when you will die, nor what your fate will be after death. Gather for yourself the riches of immortality while you have time. Think of nothing but your salvation. Care only for the things of God. Make friends for yourself now by honoring the saints of God, by imitating their actions, so that when you depart this life they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.

     Keep yourself as a stranger here on earth, a pilgrim whom its affairs do not concern at all. Keep your heart free and raise it up to God, for you have not here a lasting home. To Him direct your daily prayers, your sighs and tears, that your soul may merit after death to pass in happiness to the Lord.

The Imitation Of Christ

     Pray continually. --- 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

     It is not necessary to pronounce many words. (Fraņois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, “The Saints Converse with God,” ( The World's Great Sermons, Volume 02 ) To pray is to say, “Let your will be done.” It is to form a good purpose, to raise your heart to God, to lament your weakness, to sigh at the recollection of your frequent disobedience. This prayer demands neither method nor science nor reasoning; it is not essential to quit your work; it is a simple movement of the heart toward its Creator and a desire that whatever you are doing you may do to his glory. The best of all prayers is to act with a pure intention and with a continual reference to the will of God. It depends much on ourselves whether our prayers are effective. It is not by a miracle but by a movement of the heart that we are benefited, by a submissive spirit.

     Do not devote all your time to action, but reserve a certain portion of it for meditation on eternity. Jesus invited his disciples to go apart in a desert place and rest awhile. How much more necessary is it for us to approach the source of all virtue, that we may revive our declining faith and charity, when we return from busy lives, where people speak and act as if they had never known that there is a God! We should look on prayer as the remedy for our weakness, the rectifier of our faults. He who was without sin prayed constantly; how much more ought we, who are sinners, to be faithful in prayer!

     That we feel God should bless our labors is another powerful motive to prayer. It often happens that all human help is vain. It is God alone who can aid us, and it does not require much faith to believe that it is less our exertions than the blessing of the Almighty that can give success to our wishes.

     We must pray with attention. God listens to the voice of the heart, not to that of the lips. The whole heart must be engaged in prayer. Every human object must disappear from our minds. To whom should we speak with attention if not to God? This attention to prayer may be practiced with less difficulty than we imagine. True, the most faithful souls suffer from occasional involuntary distractions. But these unbidden wanderings of the mind ought not to trouble us; they may promote our perfection even more than the most sublime and affecting prayers, if we strive to overcome them and submit with humility to this experience of our infirmity.
--- François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon

Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

     Though Polycarp is not mentioned in the Bible, he was born during the New Testament age, converted early in life, and trained for the ministry by the apostle John himself. Polycarp and John remained friends for 20 years. They worked in churches 20 miles from one another, John in Ephesus and Polycarp at his home church in Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey). When John wrote the Revelation, he addressed a portion of it to the believers in Smyrna, and of that church he had no critical words. It may well have been Polycarp who read John’s message to the congregation: I know how much you suffer and how poor you are, but you are rich. … Don’t worry about what you will suffer. … If you are faithful until you die, I will reward you with a glorious life (Rev 2:9,10).

     Though Polycarp devoted most of his time to pastoring the church at Smyrna, he also became well-known elsewhere. We still have a letter he wrote to the Philippian church, and in it he quotes extensively from the New Testament. He traveled to Rome to consult with Bishop Anicletus about theological matters. He battled heresy throughout the empire. All in all, he serves as a vital link between the apostles and the rest of church history.

     He faced his greatest test in the mid-second century, during the reign of Antoninus Pius. A persecution broke out against Christians, and several of his church members were killed. On February 23, c. 155 a Roman officer publicly demanded that Polycarp renounce Christ. The old pastor’s famous reply has echoed through history: “Eighty and six years have I served him and he has done me no wrong. Can I revile my King that saved me?”

     “I’ll throw you to the beasts!” shouted the Roman. Polycarp told him to bring them on. “Then I’ll have you burned,” the man warned.

     Polycarp replied, “You try to frighten me with fire that burns for an hour and you forget the fire of hell that never goes out.”

     An hour later his body was ashes, his soul with Christ.

     Don’t worry about what you will suffer. The devil will throw some of you into jail, and you will be tested and made to suffer for ten days. But if you are faithful until you die, I will reward you with a glorious life. If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
--- Revelation 2:10-11a.

On This Day 365 Amazing And Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs And Heroes

          Morning - February 23

     “I will never leave thee.” --- Hebrews 13:5.

     No promise is of private interpretation. Whatever God has said to any one saint, he has said to all. When he opens a well for one, it is that all may drink. When he openeth a granary-door to give out food, there may be some one starving man who is the occasion of its being opened, but all hungry saints may come and feed too. Whether he gave the word to Abraham or to Moses, matters not, O believer; he has given it to thee as one of the covenanted seed. There is not a high blessing too lofty for thee, nor a wide mercy too extensive for thee. Lift up now thine eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is thine. Climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the land is all thine own. There is not a brook of living water of which thou mayst not drink. If the land floweth with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both are thine. Be thou bold to believe, for he hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”In this promise, God gives to his people everything. “I will never leave thee.” Then no attribute of God can cease to be engaged for us. Is he mighty? He will show himself strong on the behalf of them that trust him. Is he love? Then with lovingkindness will he have mercy upon us. Whatever attributes may compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its fullest extent shall be engaged on our side. To put everything in one, there is nothing you can want, there is nothing you can ask for, there is nothing you can need in time or in eternity, there is nothing living, nothing dying, there is nothing in this world, nothing in the next world, there is nothing now, nothing at the resurrection-morning, nothing in heaven which is not contained in this text—“I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”


          Evening - February 23

     “Take up the cross, and follow me.” --- Mark 10:21.

     You have not the making of your own cross, although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making; neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, although self-will would fain be lord and master; but your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine love, and you are cheerfully to accept it; you are to take up the cross as your chosen badge and burden, and not to stand cavilling at it. This night Jesus bids you submit your shoulder to his easy yoke. Do not kick at it in petulance, or trample on it in vain-glory, or fall under it in despair, or run away from it in fear, but take it up like a true follower of Jesus. Jesus was a cross-bearer; he leads the way in the path of sorrow. Surely you could not desire a better guide! And if he carried a cross, what nobler burden would you desire? The Via Crucis is the way of safety; fear not to tread its thorny paths.

     Beloved, the cross is not made of feathers, or lined with velvet, it is heavy and galling to disobedient shoulders; but it is not an iron cross, though your fears have painted it with iron colours, it is a wooden cross, and a man can carry it, for the Man of sorrows tried the load. Take up your cross, and by the power of the Spirit of God you will soon be so in love with it, that like Moses, you would not exchange the reproach of Christ for all the treasures of Egypt. Remember that Jesus carried it, and it will smell sweetly; remember that it will soon be followed by the crown, and the thought of the coming weight of glory will greatly lighten the present heaviness of trouble. The Lord help you to bow your spirit in submission to the divine will ere you fall asleep this night, that waking with to-morrow’s sun, you may go forth to the day’s cross with the holy and submissive spirit which becomes a follower of the Crucified.

Morning and Evening

          LET US BREAK BREAD TOGETHER

     Traditional Spiritual

     They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer … All the believers were together and had everything in common.
(Acts 2:42, 44)

     The local church has been described as a laboratory where believers learn to love one another regardless of color, nationality, or financial status. Our common heavenly citizenship is the one dominant tie that binds our hearts together. One of the basic results of our weekly corporate worship should be the growing bond of love and unity that develops between believers. This bond of fellowship should result in God’s family members learning to care, honor, and serve one another in love. We should treat others with the same tenderness and understanding that we have experienced from God Himself. This determination to live in a love relationship with fellow believers is infinitely more important than the issues or differences that may separate us.

     Christian unity does not mean that we must eliminate all diversities. We should be able to differ with each other while maintaining love, respect, and a warm, unified spirit. When our differences get out of hand and hard feelings develop, however, the communion service should always be a reminder that we must reconcile our differences and once more restore a spirit of unity within the body of Christ. The bread and cup of the Lord’s Supper should remind us of this truth each time we participate together (1 Corinthians 11:17–34).

     Let us break bread together on our knees; let us break bread together on our knees; when I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
     Let us drink the cup together on our knees; let us drink the cup together on our knees; when I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.
     Let us praise God together on our knees; let us praise God together on our knees; when I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising sun, O Lord, have mercy on me.

     For Today: Psalm 133:1; Matthew 26:26–30; Luke 24:30; Romans 15:5, 6; Hebrews 10:25.

     Reflect on this statement: I should value not only those for whom Christ died, but above all those in whom Christ now lives. Consider how a more loving and caring relationship could be promoted among the members of your local church. Ponder this important matter ---

Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions

Jonathan Weiner

James West

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

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Numbers 26-30
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